Dance of Shadows
by The unwritten promise
Summary: The darkest pits of Hell have arrived, and this time, nobody will be spared. Angels, demons, mystics, magic, relics, wyverns, dragons, ancients, warriors, tribesmen, princes and princesses, kings and queens and assassins of the night, they all bleed the same, and they all dance with shadows


Bareshen Lake was a beautiful thing. Crystal clear, the moon seemed to appear twice; once in the darkened skyline dotted with glittering servants, but also in the fresh ripples of fish darting under its gleaming surface. Sparse about the edges, the overhanging weeds and barbed thistles hung in undignified glory, rustling occasionally to match the sweet whistle of the wind.

Stood by the edge, dipped in shadowed refinement, Leon waited. His hood was high over his face, creating a sunken mask for his face to hide behind. But still, he practiced caution. Bringing up his neck scarf with gloved hands, he placed it over his nose, closed his weary eyes, and listened.

The Humming Blooms had come to aid the wind with fashionable timing. The yellow flowers opened, peeled back the golden flowers and soaked in the moonlight before they began to chime. Opening his eyes, Leon glanced down to his right where a rather large spectacle began to open by his feet, unaware of his close presence. The scent was strong and the hum was proud, filling the lake with the mysteriously sweet song.

Glancing up and over the rippling pond, he narrowed his eyes, clenched his jaw, and listened to the approaching steps crunch hard against the ground behind him. The wet mud sloshed with the boots of the newcomer, and the Humming Blooms ceased their call and retreated back into their enclosed petal-shells. The wind seemed to fade and a dull silence settled.

Leon never turned fully as the footsteps stopped behind him and a little to the left, but he did turn his head ever so slightly. The shadow of his hood kept him concealed, and the cloak dwindled down to the floor, hiding him perfectly from all who did not know him already. He couldn't see the figure directly, but he caught the white cloak being toyed with by the wind as it playfully tugged at the hem.

Turning again, he stood sideways from the newcomer. As he stood all in black, his accomplice echoed him, a mirror reflection in white. Crystal eyes that shamed the lake caught his, and a small, grief-stricken nod was given. Leon turned fully, his hands going to the sword at his waist behind his cloak's shrouded layer.

"You were successful?"

Blue eyes left him and turned to the lake. The White Shadow tensed before nodding.

Leon frowned, confusion nipping at him slowly. "You had trouble?"

"Men are never trouble."

The White Shadow mumbled. The voice was scratchy and hoarse, laced with a thick coat of regret and something spiteful, but Leon knew Cloud didn't intend it to be aimed at him. It was more a personal loathing; a loathing of survival.

"How many?"

Cloud stepped forwards to be on level with him, his eyes never leaving the lake as he lowered his white hood and neck scarf to shake away his false name; _The White Shadow._

"Six. Seven if you count the child."

"All of them are gone?"

Cloud glanced down to the Humming Bloom. Releasing his sword from its scabbard, he plunged it through the heart of the petals and listened to the shrill whine from the flower. Finally it died, and Cloud was left turning his sword against it, almost transfixed. "My work is Clean, Leon. I leave no witnesses."

Leon nodded and turned out to glare at the lake whilst his companion stayed mesmerised by the blood leaking down his sword. "Good. Our contractor will be pleased."

"They cried a lot."

Leon blinked twice, startled by the question. He turned back to Cloud and lowered his own neck scarf, the silver thread pattern, his trademark, glinting by the moon. He cocked his head to a side, confused again. "The children?"

Cloud shook his head, his blond hair coming before his eyes as he continued decapitating the Humming Bloom. "No, the men. The children were asleep."

Leon smirked softly, pulling the scar on his face. He brought his hand up to rub at the stubble of his jaw and the soft leather he had worn down was pleasant to the touch. "That's the best way to go," he mumbled. "No sense in making children suffer."

"Mm."

Leon shook his head. Cloud was lost again, off in his own world where nobody but his thoughts could reach him. Leon didn't mind, though. He preferred the quiet company of Cloud, and he found a sick sense of pride in the accomplishments of their work. They were the best. The uncatchable. The ones sought by both guards and King's alike to hunt down enemies and foes…

"These men," Leon started, drawing Cloud from his drowning remorse, "they were not good men, Cloud."

"But they were men." Cloud said. He had finally finished destroying the flower, and so sheathed his sword. "That should always be enough."

Leon rolled his eyes, a smile snickering on his lips. "Don't tell me you feel sorry for them? Cloud, assassins don't feel remorse. They don't feel regret or shame towards their actions. We do our job, that's it. We do it well enough and we manage to stay alive for another day with enough gold coin to buy ourselves some supper, a bed and some honey for the week ahead."

Cloud's eyes never left the two moons. One was always reflected in the shadow of the other, and Cloud was sick of it. "I want out, Leon."

Leon inhaled with a hiss and ground his teeth together roughly, his grip on his sword tightening. "You're not thinking clearly, Cloud-"

"I think I am. I think that for the first time in a long time I am thinking clearly. I think you know that." Cloud's eyes shot sideways and he glared at his friend. "I think it scares you."

Leon shook his head, a false smile crossing his features as he released a rumbling laugh. "Cloud, think on what you are saying. A blood debt is not something that can be so easily dismissed-"

"Then don't dismiss it." Cloud reached inside his cloak and pulled out a small, worn, hide pouch tied with string. Tossing it to Leon, he watched his friend catch it and stare down at it with bemusement. "I want to buy my way out. No more blood debt. No more jobs. No more killing. No more friendship. This is it, Shadow. Me and you, we part ways. I'm sick of slaying for survival."

Leon had opened the bag whilst listening to the words and the green, red, blue and white gems seemed to sparkle in his eyes. He closed the pouch again and tucked it away inside his black cloak. His smile was gone, and as he looked up he saw the stern, serious face of Cloud.

"You are sure that this is what you want, White Shadow? Once this deal has been made, me and you, we are enemies. No longer can we call upon each other as brethren, accomplices or friends. A life of solitude and travelling is what you condemn yourself to. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Cloud's voice was cold as he lifted his white hood once more and raised the neck scarf passed his nose. The black embroidery, unlike Leon's own, seemed to banish the moonlight.

"Then you and I are no more." Leon paused for a moment before he let out a sigh and released his sword. "Customary terms bind me to killing you and the secrets you hold, however, I cannot pass judgment on a friend….Even a Soft-Cloak such as yourself. I will give you till morning to have yourself away. After that, our next meeting shall be fatal."

Cloud nodded in silence. Turning, he swept his cloak behind him and made his way back towards the forest from which he had come from. The black ebony vines scratched at him as he left, dragging holes in his attire and staining it a deep brown as he trudged through the damp mud. He would have stayed longer with his friend and fled an hour before sunrise, if not only to keep on good terms and times, but he knew that Leon had been out of sorts ever since his meeting with the Deranged King. Cloud had been absent from the meeting, but he had been less than thrilled to hear that Leon had accepted the king's request. Ever since their tasks had become more and more gruesome, and he couldn't take much more. Now he had left his friend and his influences behind, and he had to make himself scarce through the Black Forest before the gripping madness seared through his friend and came to kill him before the timing of their deal was done.

As soon as he was sure he had been hidden through the thicket of the Black Forest, he picked his pace up to a run and darted left. Jumping fallen logs and racing through snippets of barbed undergrowth, he skidded down a ditch and headed north; back to the hall of the massacre he had performed. The ditch had collected puddles in his absence, and now they seemed to splatter against his feet as he ran in his haste, giving away his position. Cursing himself for being reckless, he clambered back up to higher ground and followed the trail from there, careful of the trees that seemed to haunt him with hollow yellow eyes. Leon had been clear in his threat, and any animal or living form could be his eyes and ears for the night.

Finally, after two diversion routes to ensure he hadn't been followed and a less than graceful swim through the Sendron Swamps that resided in the pits of the Black Forest to guard his scent, Cloud made it back to the blazing building. Sticking to the shadows, he watched as men and women from the neighbouring village fought tirelessly with water and mud to quench the blaze of the Southern Lord's home. But Cloud knew it was useless. All they would save was the ashen timber that the oil and fire left. Nothing else would remain.

But that did not mean that he had been completely heartless.

Swallowing hard, he turned left, still hidden within the forests depths, and made his way down to where a cradled branch met a budding bloom of Humming Blooms. The flowers immediately dried and shrivelled at the scent of blood, and Cloud was left facing the snivelling face of a small child. Lying to Leon hadn't been easy, his friend could always detect the smallest deceit, but thankfully he had picked up a few tricks of the trade that his friend had not. Not yet, anyway.

Reaching down gently, he picked the child up, thankful that it had gone unheard between the spitting fire and the desperate people's shrieks and cries. He didn't know why he had saved the innocent, but he had. The small child was different. His hair was a thick bundle of brown and seemed frizzy as if struck by lightning, his blue eyes were like orbs from the Mystic herself and his skin was pink and peachy, smooth to the touch. Holding the child, he wasn't exactly sure what to do. Leon was right, his life would be spent continuously on the run. He couldn't keep a baby through that. Even in a stable environment, he wasn't sure what it is he would be expected to do, and people would question why and where an unwed fifteen year old had managed to find or obtain a baby.

The child stopped crying and sniffed instead as Cloud held him out at arm's length. It was as the baby started to coo that he gained his idea and a small smile came to his face. Blowing his unruly hair out of his face, he brought the child to him and made his way through the forest, careful to stay unobserved through the trees. It was as he walked that he talked, more to himself than the babe in his arms.

"Hey, erm…I'm not exactly sure what to say here, or do." He flinched at the feeling of sounding stupid talking to someone who couldn't understand him or even comprehend his thoughts. A grimace came to his face and he continued, sliding down another ditch with ease and passing underneath the canopy of leaves.

"You know, I've done some horrible, really bad… things. But, I'm hoping, with a little luck, that things will start to turn back around. I saved you from…well, myself, really." He shrugged, picking up his pace to a brisk walk and shuddering. "I took everything away from you. You should hate me." He frowned as the baby laughed and clapped its hands together before he let his shoulders slump inwards. "Never mind. Just promise to grow up good, okay?"

As they walk the night drawled further on and Cloud shivered through the cold. Looking to the child in his arms, he felt the bite of regret make its way up his spine again. Holding the babe in one arm, he knelt down to one knee and began to unhook his cloak. As soon as he did the wind bit into his shoulders and he hunched in a little further, but as he wrapped the child up he felt almost a little warmer for it. But no sooner had the feeling come than another gust of wind swept through him and the feeling was blown away with it. Grumbling, he continued walking.

It took him half an hour to reach his destination. Sat upon the edge of the woods and marking the halfway point to the next village on, was the StoneBay Inn. He had been once with Leon, but they had both stayed hidden and attended on strictly business terms. Now he was there for another reason. Approaching the backdoor on trained silent feet, he laid the baby down by the back step. His breath caught in his throat for an instant, and he wondered if he should say anything memorable to mark the occasion. Plucking up his courage, he spoke.

"So…listen, when you grow up, if you remember any of this and you're not mad, come find me. I'm not sure where I'll be, or what I'm gonna do…" a worrying thought crossed him for a moment before he shook it off and stood taller, placing his hand on his sword and grinning. "Just look for the name White Shadow. I promise, if there's any way I can make any of this up to you…." He left the thought trailing in the air and instead reached up to his neck behind his neck scarf. Undoing the small silver chain, he handed it down and placed it by the baby's chest under the filthy white cloak.

Straightening up, he nodded. "When you're bigger I don't know what you'll be called, and I've made a lot of enemies. Some haven't even been born yet." He laughed at his own dark joke of revenge. "But show me that and I'll know it's you."

Inside the inn a rambunctious noise was drawn out and Cloud stepped back, one hand placed upon the hilt of his sword before he shook his head, wary eyes still watching the door as he put it down to drunkards. Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand to the door and knocked loudly three times before running back to the Black Forest. He had just made it back, ducking behind a rather large bush of blackberries, when a woman opened the door.

Wiping her hand on her apron front, she looked about in mild confusion before her eyes went wide at the child by her feet. Picking him up, he started to scream and Cloud felt the softest pang of guilt as she soothed him. Rocking him back and forth, she looked left and right, catching sight of no one. Finally, she smiled down on the baby and headed back inside to the warmth.

Cloud smiled as the door shut behind her. He had done it. If nothing else, he had saved an innocent life, and maybe, because of his good deed, things would start to look up. Standing, he was about to head out again before something cold and sharp was pressed against his throat. Tensing, he felt the blade draw a thin line of red against his pale skin and growled, cursing himself for being put off guard.

In his ear a rough voice whispered tantalisingly, drawing him in as the blade dug deeper.

"Well, well, I never knew shadows had hearts. Even white shadows." The laugh was deep and as metallic and rusty as the blade at Cloud's throat.

Cloud was about to retort and snarl something back before something sharp was pushed towards the bottom of his back. The knife rubbed at the base of his spine and Cloud flinched.

"Now, let's see, what to do with you?"

* * *

Dance of Shadows prologue :) hope anyone who read enjoyed!


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